BioWare announcesMass Effect 3: Extended Cut, a free DLC pack for Mass Effect 3 they hope will address widespread unhappiness with the conclusion of the action/RPG sequel. Here's word on the free DLC, which does not yet carry a release date:

BioWare, a Label of Electronic Arts Inc. announced Mass Effect™ 3: Extended Cut, a downloadable content pack that will expand upon the events at the end of the critically acclaimed Action RPG. Through additional cinematic sequences and epilogue scenes, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will give fans seeking further clarity to the ending of Mass Effect 3 deeper insights into how their personal journey concludes. Coming this summer, the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut will be available for download on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC for no extra charge*.

“We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player.” “We are all incredibly proud of Mass Effect 3 and the work done by Casey Hudson and team,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA’s BioWare Label. “Since launch, we have had time to listen to the feedback from our most passionate fans and we are responding. With the Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut we think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team’s artistic vision for the end of this story arc in the Mass Effect universe.”

Casey Hudson, Executive Producer of the Mass Effect series added, “We have reprioritized our post-launch development efforts to provide the fans who want more closure with even more context and clarity to the ending of the game, in a way that will feel more personalized for each player.”

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:43:Uh you do see humans merge with synthetics. Watch the synthesis ending again.

To be sure I didn't miss anything I watched it again on youtube. Reapers take off just like blue ending, green energy spreads, Joker and EDI walk out of Normandy looking normal. No shots of any people changing form or looking different. What part are you referring to?

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:43:Uh you do see humans merge with synthetics. Watch the synthesis ending again.

To be sure I didn't miss anything I watched it again on youtube. Reapers take off just like blue ending, green energy spreads, Joker and EDI walk out of Normandy looking normal. No shots of any people changing form or looking different. What part are you referring to?

The circuitry in the leaves on the trees, the circuitry built into Joker's body. That pretty much confirms that the catalyst was not lying in any of the endings.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:43:Uh you do see humans merge with synthetics. Watch the synthesis ending again.

To be sure I didn't miss anything I watched it again on youtube. Reapers take off just like blue ending, green energy spreads, Joker and EDI walk out of Normandy looking normal. No shots of any people changing form or looking different. What part are you referring to?

When Joker and EDI step out they do not look normal during the Synthesis ending, in fact Joker specifically looks at his hand. There are green lines going through plants, joker, EDI everything. That are supposed to infer everything has been infused with nanites/synthetic whatever.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:43:Uh you do see humans merge with synthetics. Watch the synthesis ending again.

To be sure I didn't miss anything I watched it again on youtube. Reapers take off just like blue ending, green energy spreads, Joker and EDI walk out of Normandy looking normal. No shots of any people changing form or looking different. What part are you referring to?

Mashiki Amiketo wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:29:If it wasn't for your UID, I'd think you're a paid EA-biodrone troll trying to say "everything is grand, and fully fills all the plot holes" by doing the same cinematic sequences with coloured lights.

When I read a book, the ending is there. I just finished playing BG, and the epilogue was sure a cinematic but it fit the story. When I play PS:Torment, the ending is a cinematic but the actual choices I make in the game determine what happens and how I get there, and what happens to everything in between. When I completed BG2/TOB the same deal happens, but my choices through those games also decide what happens based on my alignment. BGTOB was a 'three choice option' but did it very well.

Of course there's plot holes, I never said the ending is perfect. It's deliberately vague and you have to infer a lot from the conversations leading up to the ending.

As for PS:T, it's been a while, but isn't the end the same no matter what you do? You wake up after you die, and take part in the Blood War. The fact that all routes you take leads up to the same end cinematic doesn't cheapen the ending at all, just like in ME3. I don't remember much of TOB, as I thought it was quite mediocre compared to BG2.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:20:You do see the results of your choice. You see the reapers getting destroyed, or you see them leaving, or you see the new results of merging organics with synthetics. Just because the game doesn't hold your hand and spell out every little detail of how every character lived happily ever after doesn't mean there's no resolution. If you need that kind of conclusion, go read Harry Potter.

Sorry but no. You don't see humans merge with synthetics. You see Reapers move upwards, that doesn't mean they left. You see some Reapers collapse but see nothing happen to the Geth or EDI. It doesn't have to be happy, the entire game was about the situation being unhappy. A complete lack of information about the results of your choices is sloppy. A book is not a fair comparison, I can't control the choices in that book. We saw the results of our actions throughout the entire series, why is it wrong to want that for the final, ultimate decision?

Uh you do see humans merge with synthetics. Watch the synthesis ending again.

The funny thing is, and mark my words here, people are going to disagree with whatever BioWare adds in this "fix" and demand another one. People should be careful what they wish for. BioWare's ideas for what happens after that ending everyone hates might not agree with what you want.

Oh, I can't wait for the huge fandom explosion it's going to cause. It'll make a great article on fandom_wank, at least.

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:20:You do see the results of your choice. You see the reapers getting destroyed, or you see them leaving, or you see the new results of merging organics with synthetics. Just because the game doesn't hold your hand and spell out every little detail of how every character lived happily ever after doesn't mean there's no resolution. If you need that kind of conclusion, go read Harry Potter.

Sorry but no. You don't see humans merge with synthetics. You see Reapers move upwards, that doesn't mean they left. You see some Reapers collapse but see nothing happen to the Geth or EDI. It doesn't have to be happy, the entire game was about the situation being unhappy. A complete lack of information about the results of your choices is sloppy. A book is not a fair comparison, I can't control the choices in that book. We saw the results of our actions throughout the entire series, why is it wrong to want that for the final, ultimate decision?

Yifes wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:18:Try to think about your actions within context of the story, instead of just watching a cutscene. It's a whole game, and the end cutscene is just a part of the ending. I know its hard, but try not to let the pretty flashing lights distract you, k?

If it wasn't for your UID, I'd think you're a paid EA-biodrone troll trying to say "everything is grand, and fully fills all the plot holes" by doing the same cinematic sequences with coloured lights.

When I read a book, the ending is there. I just finished playing BG, and the epilogue was sure a cinematic but it fit the story. When I play PS:Torment, the ending is a cinematic but the actual choices I make in the game determine what happens and how I get there, and what happens to everything in between. When I completed BG2/TOB the same deal happens, but my choices through those games also decide what happens based on my alignment. BGTOB was a 'three choice option' but did it very well.

Coloured ending with explosions is what Micheal Bay does.

--"For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong." --H.L. Mencken

The funny thing is, and mark my words here, people are going to disagree with whatever BioWare adds in this "fix" and demand another one. People should be careful what they wish for. BioWare's ideas for what happens after that ending everyone hates might not agree with what you want.

Every time you preorder a game, you become part of the problem. Don't be part of the problem.

NegaDeath wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 15:15:How can something even be considered a choice when you don't get to see the results of that choice? What if the kid was completely lying? What if it was a stupid Matrix Reloaded type trick where everything you knew was just another form of control?

You do see the results of your choice. You see the reapers getting destroyed, or you see them leaving, or you see the new results of merging organics with synthetics. Just because the game doesn't hold your hand and spell out every little detail of how every character lived happily ever after doesn't mean there's no resolution. If you need that kind of conclusion, go read Harry Potter.

Try to think about your actions within context of the story, instead of just watching a cutscene. It's a whole game, and the end cutscene is just a part of the ending. I know its hard, but try not to let the pretty flashing lights distract you, k?

How can something even be considered a choice when you don't get to see the results of that choice? What if the kid was completely lying? What if it was a stupid Matrix Reloaded type trick where everything you knew was just another form of control?

Speaking of that movie, what do you think the reaction would have been if the series ended after Neo walked through the door he chose? Certainly it would have spared us the further mediocrity of the next movie but I imagine a similar amount of head scratching would occur.

SXO wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 14:13:It would be quite powerful if it made sense. Explain to me how Joker and the crew got to the relay before it exploded, used it to jump to another system, and survived the explosion of the relay in that system to end up crash landing on a habitable system. As for the catalyst, it only makes sense if you don't try to make sense of it. And this is just scratching the surface of how ridiculous the ending(s) is/are.

How do you know they're in a mass relay? They could be just using their FTL drive to travel to a neighboring system. Also, how do you know the world is new? They could've just landing in some jungle in an already inhabited system. When I say new world, I was speaking of a post reaper era, not literally an unexplored system. Also, the timeline isn't exactly clear. We don't know what exactly the Normandy was up to during those last moments, or in fact how long the destruction of the mass relays took, or when the destruction of the relays started with relation to the rest of the battle.

Dr. D. Schreber wrote on Apr 5, 2012, 14:30:Did the Reapers just drop nukes onto the Wards and sterilize the entire place, or did they want to catch all the humans living there first to throw into the goo bank?

Hahaha! Goo bank! I love it. That's going to be their next title...Mass Effect: Goo Bank!

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